2023 was the year memoirs took over my listening queue. I also finally cracked open fiction for the first time in years, and I have Katherine Center to thank for that. I finished more books than I expected to and came away with a handful I still think about regularly. Here is what stood out and why.

Memoirs & Lived Experiences

This was the category that surprised me most in 2023. Every single one of these was someone I knew almost nothing about going in, and they kept me listening through chores, drives, and lazy weekends.

The Storyteller by Dave Grohl, Garlic and Sapphires by Ruth Reichl, We Were Dreamers by Simu Liu, Beyond the Wand by Tom Felton, and 2,000 Miles Together by Ben Crawford were all completely different stories with one thing in common. I did not want any of them to end.

If you only pick one, start with We Were Dreamers. I was not prepared for how much it would hit. Same goes for 2,000 Miles Together if you have ever had a big family adventure on your radar and wondered whether it was actually possible.

Eye-Opening: Books That Make You Think

I read several books in this category in 2023 but only one genuinely stayed with me. Hell and Other Destinations by Madeleine Albright. The others were packed with information but this one had something they did not. A voice I actually wanted to spend time with. Highly recommend.

Personal & Professional Growth

A few years out from this list, two of the six I read in this category I still find myself thinking about.

Hidden Potential by Adam Grant and Die with Zero by Bill Perkins. If you have not read Die with Zero yet, especially if you are a working mom who puts everything off until someday, move it to the top of your list right now. I mean it.

Fiction — A New Genre Unlocked

Before 2023, I didn’t typically read fiction. 2023 was the year Katherine Center changed that. Things You Save in a Fire was the book that broke me in and once I finished it I kept going. An Unexpected Boyfriend for Christmas by Janette Rallison, The Island of Sea Women by Lisa See, The Snow Child by Eowyn Ivey, and Player Piano by Kurt Vonnegut all followed. It was an eclectic mix and I loved every bit of it.

If you are also someone who has told yourself you are not a fiction person, start with Katherine Center and report back.

Adventure & History

The Six by Loren Grush tells the untold story of America’s first women astronauts and it is one of those books where you finish it and immediately want to tell everyone about it. I had no idea this story existed. It is an essential listen.

The Full 2023 Reading List

Every book I finished in 2023, linked for easy finding.

Memoirs & Lived Experiences

• The Storyteller: Tales of Life and Music — Dave Grohl
• Garlic and Sapphires: The Secret Life of a Critic in Disguise — Ruth Reichl
• We Were Dreamers — Simu Liu
• Beyond the Wand: The Magic & Mayhem of Growing Up a Wizard — Tom Felton
• I’m Glad My Mom Died — Jennette McCurdy
• Friends, Lovers, and the Big Terrible Thing — Matthew Perry
• Textbook Amy Krouse Rosenthal — Amy Krouse Rosenthal
• The Woman in Me — Britney Spears
• 2,000 Miles Together: The Story of the Largest Family to Hike the Appalachian Trail — Ben Crawford

Eye-Opening: Books That Make You Think

• Hell and Other Destinations: A 21st-Century Memoir — Madeleine Albright
• Empire of Pain: The Secret History of the Sackler Dynasty — Patrick Radden Keefe
• Elon Musk — Walter Isaacson
• The Code Breaker — Walter Isaacson
• Fauci: Expect the Unexpected — Dr. Anthony Fauci

Personal & Professional Growth

• Hidden Potential: The Science of Achieving Greater Things — Adam Grant
• Die with Zero — Bill Perkins
• The Comfort Crisis — Michael Easter
• We Should All Be Millionaires — Rachel Rodgers
• Do Nothing — Celeste Headlee
• Feel-Good Productivity — Ali Abdaal

Fiction

• Things You Save in a Fire — Katherine Center
• An Unexpected Boyfriend for Christmas — Janette Rallison
• The Island of Sea Women — Lisa See
• The Snow Child — Eowyn Ivey
• Player Piano — Kurt Vonnegut

Adventure & History

• The Six: The Untold Story of America’s First Women Astronauts — Loren Grush
• Shipwreck at the Bottom of the World — Jennifer Armstrong

---

If you want to see where this reading journey started, check out What I Read 2020. And if you want to keep going, here is What I Read 2024, and What I Read 2025.

What have you been reading? Drop it in the comments. I am always adding to my TBR.